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Shaping a new digital agenda to drive growth and maintain market relevancy in travel

OVERVIEW

Travel companies are increasingly challenged by the digital transformation underway in the industry. Companies inside and outside the travel industry must move quickly to capitalize on new digital strategies, technology and business models.

Amid this transformation is the fact that growing demand for travel is challenging current capacity while consumer behaviour continues to dramatically shift in today’s digital world, with liquid expectations across the ecosystem.

Consumers are making more informed choices. Sixty-five percent of travelers are using online channels—not for the lowest price, but primarily for convenience, speed, quality of information and access to a broader range of choices.

KEY FINDINGS

Emerging digital platforms are disrupting the industry and creating new opportunity, while platform-based business models are defining the new rules of business in the digital economy.

94 percent of airline executives say adopting a platform-based business model and engaging in digital partner ecosystems are critical to success.

95 percent of those same executives believe the industry is experiencing ecosystem disruption, with digital business transformation establishing new platforms.

83 percent agree that airlines are being increasingly pressed to reinvent themselves and evolve their business before they are disrupted from the outside or by their competitors.

2018 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM INSIGHTS

Today there are increasing pressures on the secure cross-border movement of people. Public and private sector leaders are collaborating to enable a paradigm shift towards a global, interoperable Known Traveler Digital Identity concept. The concept enables a more secure and seamless traveler journey, from fight booking, arrival and border security to hotel check-in and beyond. These traveler-managed digital identities will improve trust by building an individual ‘known traveler’ status based on information shared, this enables for:

Travelers share what they want, when they want, with whom they want due to privacy and security built into the system

Governments conduct pre-vetting risk assessment and security procedures to enhance the seamless flow of travelers through borders. Security agents are equipped to quickly clear trustworthy travelers and focus attention and resources where needed to

Private Sector connects with private companies providing opportunities to streamline itineraries and enable for more secure and seamless identity verification and validation processes

To support the development of this concept, Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies will shift the Known Traveler Digital Identity from a concept to a reality:

Distributed ledger and Blockchain build trust in the network without the control of one central authority

Cryptography guards security in authorisation and sharing of identity information

Biometrics ensure legitimately and accurately links the digital identity to the physical world

Mobile interface enables availability for use across contexts

Next step is set up for a pilot project to demonstrate best practices and identify mechanisms for achieving scale.

To learn more about the digital implications your company should be considering now, check out the report Accenture produced for the World Economic Forum on “Shaping the future of security in travel”.

Airlines lag exponentially behind other industries in getting the customer basics right. As profits decline and negative media abounds, they search for a cure to what ails them.

Digitalization carries the potential to ease pain for airlines and their passengers. Whether properly booking flights or anticipating customer needs, digital technologies enable airlines to treat passengers less like a captive audience—and more like customers.

Digitalizing aviation, travel and tourism could unlock more than $1 trillion in value for the industry over the next decade. Success lies in applying digital across airlines’ entire operations, not just the front office.

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